1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch device for musical instruments such as a keyboard instrument, a string instrument, or a wind instrument, and audio equipment such as a music player, and an electronic musical instrument including this switch device. Specifically, the present invention relates to a rotary switch device that gives an effect to musical sound and an electronic musical instrument including this switch device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotary switch device for a music player is known which is structured such that a rotation shaft is provided in its device case, a rotating operation member is attached to the rotation shaft, and a pitch-bend switch section is provided in the rotating operation member, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. 2010-234012. In this rotary switch device, a pitch-bend operation is performed by rotating the rotating operation member while pressing the switch section, and a scratch operation is performed by rotating the rotating operation member without pressing the switch section.
In this rotary switch device, the rotating operation member includes a rotation disk and a board supporting plate. In this instance, a through hole is formed in the rotation disk, and a key top is provided in the through hole. In addition, a switch board is provided in the board supporting plate, and a switch section is provided in the switch board corresponding to the key top.
When performing a pitch-blend operation in this type of switch device, the rotating operation member is rotated in the condition where the switch section of the rotating operation member is turned ON by pressing the key top. When performing a scratch operation, the rotating operation member is rotated in the condition where the switch section of the rotating operation member is turned OFF by not pressing the key top.
However, in such a rotary switch device, the pitch-bend operation of rotating the rotating operation member in the condition where the switch section of the rotating operation member is turned ON by pressing the key top cannot be simultaneously performed with the scratch operation of rotating the rotating operation member in the condition where the switch section of the rotating operation member is turned OFF by not pressing the key top. Therefore, there is a problem in that this type of switch device is not user-friendly.